ACC appoints college’s first Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Submitted by sydney.pruitt on Tue, 05/24/2022 - 9:55am
Austin Community College District (ACC) has named Nicole Jackson as the college’s first Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR).
The EIR was created to bring real-world expertise and entrepreneurial practice to students and the classroom at ACC. In this role, Jackson will help the college develop dynamic curricula and provide mentorship, guidance, and market insights to students and employees.
“Nicole’s expertise and experience will bring a level of knowledge to ACC that will help us expand our entrepreneurial initiatives and create more applied learning opportunities for our students,” says Dr. Monique Umphrey, ACC provost and executive vice chancellor of academics. “She is a proponent of accessible education and believes in the mission of the community college and in the power we hold to shape lives.”
“It is an honor to be selected as ACC’s first EIR. The college aligns so deeply with core values that have led to my own personal development as a leader in technology and mentor in STEM,” says Jackson. “ I believe solutions should involve an equal balance of logic and empathy to create truly universal experiences, and I look forward to providing those insights to the ACC family but especially to our students.”
Jackson is a product leader with more than a decade of experience in the healthcare technology industry. She is currently the Head of Product at NurseDash — a leading on-demand healthcare marketplace solving talent shortages throughout healthcare — and is a nationally recognized mentor and contributor to STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine).
Jackson holds a master’s degree in Creativity & Innovation from Drexel University and has worked with organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation with Howard University. She also serves as an advisor to PBS BlackSciGirls.
“I've volunteered my time with many organizations throughout the years but this is, by far, one of the most exciting opportunities I've been granted,” says Jackson. “ACC has an energy that is undeniably infectious. I am genuinely excited to get started.”
Jackson’s first day will be May 23, 2022.